With more information about the horrors of factory farming being presented in the mainstream media and more people hoping to clean up their health and ditch medications, veganism is become more and more popular. Completely changing diets can be a bit tricky in the beginning, but after a while it becomes second nature. I’ve been vegan for so long now that sometimes I forget that not everyone eats this way! As a vegan health and lifestyle coach, I now help people go vegan for a living, and my clients will tell you that it’s not as difficult as it might seem.
Here are my top ten tips for people making the plunge:
Take Your Time – You don’t need to go totally vegan overnight. When I went vegetarian many years ago I gradually weaned myself off meat, and when I decided to convert to veganism 9 years later I changed my diet pretty slowly. The vegan police aren’t going to come after you if you still have dairy products in your fridge or wool sweaters in your closet. Take your time and go at your own pace.
Get Support – Finding a support system is pretty crucial to new vegans, especially those who are switching diets alone. Chances are that your family and friends will think you’re a little crazy, so you’ll want to find some people who will understand how sane your decision is. It’s also good to have someone there who’s already made the transition so you can ask questions. Check out MeetUp.com and look for vegan groups in your area, or look for online vegan communities such as ThePPK.com.
Use Transition Foods – I don’t advocate loading down your vegan plate with soy meats and cheeses, but I do think they are good transition foods. If you’re used to eating hamburgers and chicken nuggets, try veggie burgers and soy “chicken”. There are quite a lot of tasty meat alternatives on the market now. Gardein is a favorite of mine, and I’ve heard that Beyond Meat is really close to tasting like the real thing.
Eat Your Veggies – I’ve met vegans who don’t eat very many vegetables. It can be pretty easy to make it through a day without eating very many if you have a bagel with tofu cream cheese for breakfast, a veggie burger for lunch and spaghetti with marinara for dinner. Yes, all of that food is vegan, but it’s not very healthy to eat that way. If you want to go vegan and feel good about what you eat, load your plate up with many brightly colored vegetables and make sure you’re consuming lots of leafy greens.
Learn to Read Labels – When buying packaged goods, label reading is crucial. It’s even important to read labels for products you’ve bought in the past, as companies change their recipes often. There was a certain brand of vegan chick’n nuggets I bought for years, so I never bothered to check the package, but if I had, I would have realized that they had “improved” their recipe with eggs. Some hidden animal ingredients in packaged foods are carmine, casein, gelatin, lactic acid, albumin and lactose.
Veganize Your Favorites – Going vegan doesn’t mean going without. It’s possible to veganize just about any dish these days, so if you have a favorite that you’re afraid you’re going to miss, look for ways that it can be veganized. If it’s something that’s usually smothered in cheese, try some vegan cheeses like Follow Your Heart or Daiya. If it’s a meaty dish, substitute with tempeh or Beyond Meat.
Answer the Protein Question – Make peace with “where do you get your protein?” because you’re going to hear it a lot. The last time someone asked me I laughed at him because I thought he was joking. (He wasn’t.) Try not to get angry when asked, and just answer politely. You can say something like “From beans, tofu, tempeh, seitan, broccoli, kale, brown rice, etc.”, or “Protein is prominent in so many foods that I don’t worry about it.”
Don’t Get Angry – It’s common to get angry at the non-vegan world once your eyes have been opened to the horrors of the factory farming system. Being angry doesn’t help the vegan cause and turns omnivores off to our way of living, so try to stay calm when dealing with those outside your vegan circle.
Arm Yourself with Cookbooks – Don’t know how to cook vegan? Just buy a few cookbooks and follow the directions! When feeding omnivores, make sure you cook them something really tasty. I find that good food can be the best way to win others over to veganism.
Chocolate is Vegan – Okay, not all chocolate is vegan, but there are a lot of good quality, non-dairy chocolates out there. Veganism isn’t about deprivation – it’s about compassion and celebration of life. Have some chocolate and enjoy yourself!
This is a very helpful article! However, one crucial part of my questioning on veganism is making it “affordable.” I have tried going vegan on multiple occasions, and I find the main thing stopping me is how expensive it seems to be.
Due to health issues, I’ve decided to choose to a vegan during the week and on the weekends eat what I want (in moderation)….I have gotten rid of added sugar which has helped tremendously….but I just cannot take ‘fake’ foods…fortunately I LOVE veggies of all kinds and limit fruits due to diabetes….I’m working to get all processed foods out of my kitchen…..what a struggle that one is
I just went vegan about 10 days ago. It’s nice to read these supporting tips, thanks! I feel like a bit of a fraud because I am still using milk in my latte–I’ve tried the plant milk and just don’t like them. My theory is that as I get more adjusted to vegan eating, I’ll be able to change then. So I was happy to read tip 1. 🙂
I also want to give a huge shout out to the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. My spouse and I have been using their Kickstarter recipes and every single one has been fabulous. While we’re eating all those yummy meals, we’re learning how to eat healthfully and with compassion. Win-win-win!
Sue
Sue, congratulations on your transition. I’ve been ‘going vegan’ since August and have found the change quite hard. After a total fall off the wagon over Christmas my husband turned to me and said “let’s do it together” – he’s just amazing! It’s really helped me turn things around and stick with it. The biggest problem for me, as with you it seems, was switching the milk in my coffee. But having discovered the flavoured plant milks, it’s been a huge help. Although they contain sugar, I think they’re a great transition tool. I’ve particularly liked vanilla soya milk, as it tastes like I’m having a vanilla latte – yum! In fact this morning I took a sip and said “mmmmmm, that’s good coffee”, then looked at my husband in amazement as I genuinely thought I was resigning myself to a life where I’d never really say that again. Maybe that would help you too? Good luck!
I want to change and go vegan but its so much money that its hard, are there any tips that you guys can give me to help go vegan and still not go broke?
This is definitely a nice article. I was vegan for about a year and now am just a regular old vegetarian, though still planning to go back to vegan (hopefully soon…gahhh).
Andrea & Samantha–as far as fiscally responsible veganism, there is an awesome book called Eat Vegan on $4 a Day, which may be of help. As a person who is always looking to *try* to save where I can, I can recommend making large portions of something hearty on a Sunday and eating that as one of your meals 4 or 5 days throughout the week. Personally, what I do is make a large stew usually with potatoes, lentils, kale, coconut milk, onions, my homemade veggie stock (that I make using stored scraps of carrots, onions, garlic, spices, tomatoes, etc. from former cooking endeavors, very easy to do, just boil them in water and then it becomes stock) and seasoning with whatever spices (I prefer turmeric, cumin, cayenne type spices). Or I’ll make a cous cous! That’s easy as well because you can switch up what you’re using in it, one week cauliflower, tomatoes and chick peas (holla at ya protein) and one week spinach, broccoli, tomatoes. You get the idea. Someone also wrote an article about eating vegan for $1.50 a day, and people are writing things similar to this kind of often, so it’s worth googling articles as well for help.
Sue & Aimee, try the So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer, it’s amazing. It’s pretty sweet though, but the Trader Joe’s brand soy creamer to me is similar to a basic creamer. Plus, all Trader Joe’s in house brand items are non-GMO so that’s a bonus. I’m not sure what kind of alternatives you’ve been trying, but I can say that the consistency and flavor of those two are really ideal for coffee.In general I find regular almond milk and coconut milk too thin for coffee, it doesn’t do the job right. If you’re not looking for a “creamer” exactly, Vanilla soy milk is always my go-to. I ask for it at starbucks with my coffee because they use an organic vanilla soy so it also allows me to skip putting sugar in my coffee.
I hope that helps! I should really stop being silly and go back to being vegan… Clearly I’m equipped.
@andrea – most people think its expensive to be vegan but it’s really not, I feed myself on about $40-60 a week (depending on how much processed food/fake meats and dairy that I buy) if you’re eating a healthy plant based diet it can be really cheap!
For those having trouble financially, are you eating too much processed food? Beans and grains are so cheap, buy veggies in season so they are cheap, and frozen veggies are great! I spend about half on groceries than what I did as an omni, and just used processed food as an occasional treat. Good luck everyone, you will get there. Vegan = <3
Thank you for the article. I think I have been feeling that it’s go cold turkey on nothing, and I have done fine without meat and most dairy since I have a lactose issue but cheese and sour cream and cream cheese don’t seem to bother me. I tried the vegan versions, but they have partially hydrogenated oils in them which I don’t want either, so I am staying with my minute amount of dairy until I am comfortable weaning myself off it and to some healthier alternative. I don’t care what others think of my progress I just know I am making progress and I feel better and healthier already. Thank you for the confidence booster and guilt free support to be able to do this on my own time and not just overnight. Very helpful article! Thank you!
Andrea – i recently went vegan last summer. At first it was expensive because I was using “transition” foods like frozen veggie burgers and soy taco meat. I bought a book called The China Study and realized that being a “good” vegan was adopting a predominately plant based diet. I invested in a few good vegan cookbooks Rawvolution is one of them and learned to eat a raw, diet. Foods that come out of a box, processed can be even more expensive and last just one meal. I made an avocado, lime and spinach soup that cost me $2 and it last me for 2 meals. It was completely healthy, natural and made from scratch. My advice is research for great vegan cookbooks (not ones that include receipes that call for packaged and processed vegan foods) , “like” as many vegan facebook and instagram pages as you can to get inspired to make affordable and healthy dishes. I am actually saving $$$ and my health by going vegan.
Andrea, I have found that I spend LESS money on food, and eating out, since our family made the switch 18 months ago. I spent an inordinate amount of money on dairy products and ” humanely raised” poultry. I don’t buy everything in the organic aisle, just the “dirty dozen” fruits and veggies. I purchased my first slow-cooker and a few vegan cookbooks for it, and that’s been an economic blessing, also. Beans, onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, spices: very low cost. The processed foods can be expensive, cooking from scratch is the way to go. Good luck!
I love your article and think it will be helpful to many but wondered why vegetarian would eat spaghetti marinara. This would no longer be a vegetarian or vegan meal with seafood (marinara).
I am vegan but also own woollen jumpers as it wouldn’t be possible to not shear sheep. I grew up on a sheep farm and just wonder what would we do with all the sheep and/or sheep’s wool if we didn’t use it.
I’m not being critical, just curious!
Vegan doesn’t have to be expensive – highly processed foods and fake meats can be expensive but massive bowls of rice, red lentil dahl and spinach cost pence. Try the Plant Based on a Budget website, local fruit and veg markets, especially at the end of the day, for casserole and stew veggies throw in a tin of mixed beans – and you have the perfect cheap vegan meal. Cook meals from scratch – takes longer but much better for you (less salt, fat and sugar) and much cheaper.
Hi Dianne, I have been wanting to make the move and never committed myself. I am not sure if it’s because deep down I do not want to or I am too scared. I think I should do a 3 month trial and see how I feel. What do you think?
To those commenting on the cost of going plant based: it really isn’t very expensive, meat is expensive. When you no longer purchase meat, you can afford to purchase the few vegan items that are higher priced like veganaise or earth balance. but sine vegan cookbooks, learn to make your own seitain, burgers, lentil loaf etc..so you aren’t spending too much on prepsred foods. I recommend buying items in bulk such as nutritional yeast and raw cashews. It all balances out in the end, give it a shot!
For those concerned about cost – it really isn’t that expensive but it depends a lot on what you buy. Rice, beans, lentils and veggies are some of the cheapest food choices… I really like the website plantbasedonabudget.com. Check it out!
The problem isn’t that becoming Vegan is expensive, it is actually very cheap, a bag of apples, another bag of oranges, 1 lb of dried beans, etc. it is dirt cheap BUT and this is a BIG BUTT, I mean BUT! 🙂 As SOON as you start feeling good, and you WILL :), you find yourself buying organic, or more exotic fruits and such. You REALLY get into your health, I mean, getting healthier takes over!! That is good, but, when you go organic it is more expensive and when you start getting into healthy style ‘fancy’ cooking and such, well, the prices go up. So, no going Vegan is cheap, becoming a GREAT YOU puts your focus into a wonderful life!
Such a great post! I’m going vegan as of today. I’ve been slowly but surely working my way towards it for a while now, and I think I’m ready to take the plunge! I’m doing a 3-day juice cleanse and then continuing a vegan diet. I feel like I have enough knowledge to go all in, but I got some good reading for when I run out of ideas : )